Breaking the Curse

"There weren't always dragons in the Valley," Sam said.

A great wind picked up at that moment, sending fallen limbs and leaves swirling in the air, dancing and dipping until finally disappearing over the edge of the cliff. The trees of the surrounding forest bent and swayed wildly, but fortunately did not uproot or break.

I turned my gaze from the spectacle and barren land below, scooted off the window ledge upon which I'd been precariously perched, and dropped the few feet to the floor. I walked carefully to where Sam stood, on the opposite side of the cylindrical room, though my caution was laughable as we'd been the only humans for days. The chances of anyone seeing or hearing us was pretty much kaput.

"What does that mean?" I wondered aloud. "Is there more?"

"This is all I could translate right now," Sam answered, pushing his intergalactic sunshades up to the top of his head as his voice drifted off. Within moments his handsome face twisted deep in thought, and I could almost see the gears in his brain working overtime. His normally ethereal emerald eyes had dulled and lost their focus as his mind worked through the million-piece puzzle. He was truly fascinating to watch.

I peeked at the scroll he'd unraveled. The odd hieroglyphics etched into the ancient parchment looked like something a toddler would draw. Nothing on the page resembled dragons or valleys to me, no matter which way I looked.

"Are you sure that's not upside down?" I asked with a chuckle, knowing full well that Sam couldn't hear me over his own thoughts.

Turning from Sam, I glanced around the room built at the top of the eastern turret at Dudley Castle. The castle itself had survived structurally for seven hundred years, but famine and hard times had caused its former owners to seek more affordable accommodations back in the 1920s. No one had inhabited it since.

Though it had been nearly 300 years since the last inhabitants had fled, Dudley showed little signs of ruin. There was an inch of dust coating every surface, and the salt water of the Great Sea had certainly left its mark, but the walls were sturdy. There wasn't a single crumbling concrete block; the stairs were as strong as the day they were built. It was almost as if the castle had an imaginary maintenance crew.

Dudley was now the safe haven for Sam and me, as no other humans had been seen in six days. Not since the Imps of Laprines unleashed a deadly spell on the known universe.

Prior to the War of the Imps of Laprines, which seemed to have happened so much longer than a week ago, Sam and I would spend weekends as urbex explorers. We'd pack backpacks of water and protein bars, meal pills for longer ventures, live-action recorders, holographic projectors and tripods, and lasers for protection. Sometimes we would be gone for a day, sometimes a weekend.

It was on one of those explorations that we'd stumbled upon Dudley. Prior to the trip, Sam had downloaded the information into his brain and knew that some sort of structure loomed just beyond Soundgraff Woods, but a lot of information from the former World was lost in the Great Eradication, so details were vague.

We ended up spending the entire 3-day holiday weekend in the main part of the castle alone, roaming through every room, every artifact, every crevasse. The ballroom, a deep crimson gilded in gold trim and marble flooring was my favorite. I'd downloaded ballroom music into our headgear, and a ballgown for me and tuxedo for Sam into the holograph projectors built into the same headgear; then made Sam dance with me.

Sam and I had been on our second expedition of the castle when the Imps unleashed their cruelty. It was that expedition which had ultimately saved us from the Curse.

The spell released by the Imps could only affect individuals who read or downloaded the transcript, or audibly heard the message; fortunately for us, we were subject to neither as we were too busy exploring a building and each other. We only knew about it when we started toward civilization and realized that none existed.

The electro-charging station we'd passed on our way to Soundgraff Woods was littered with bodies and electronics, hovering vehicles and teleporting machines, most of which remained plugged in and fully charged, never to be used again.

We stepped gingerly, walked cautiously, looking for anyone who may still have breath. We found none though Sam had come across what looked like a warning from the clerk in the form of a fading holograph, displaying much like the shaky picture from CRT TVs of the former world.

BEWARE: IMPS OF LAPRINES

Sam had understood the message at once, grabbing my arm at the elbow and practically dragging me as he ran. I stumbled briefly before righting myself (with Sam's stronghold) and ran nearly alongside him. I'd never been so thankful to have downloaded that burst of energy.

We didn't stop running until we were back at Dudley, where we shut the hulking door and sank down, gasping for breath. That night, Sam had had a dream that the key to saving the world would be found within the walls of Eastern Turret. The very next day (5 days ago), after a night of desperate lovemaking we'd never before experienced, we began searching every inch of the tall structure, starting on the ground floor.

"Dragons generally mean good fortune, luck, wealth," Sam muttered, bringing me back from my thoughts. "Valleys," he paused after making a noise of slight exasperation on an exhale. "Valleys could be anything. Lows, easy going, darkness..." his words trailed off as his lips continued moving. Occasionally I caught "dragon" and "valley" as if he were repeating the words like a mantra.

As if remembering there were more hieroglyphics, Sam visibly shook his head, the bright, glowing emerald returning to his eyes. He studied the scroll once more.

I watched the cogs working again, ruminating on how lucky I was that Sam had found and pursued me. He was a magical creature in every definition of the word.

There weren't always dragons in the valley

And Imps in time shall rule

Knowledge is power against all foe

And neither evil nor pain shall last.

The walls of the turret seemed to quiver as a gale-force wind swept over the land. I heard a crash just outside the window where I'd been perched and didn't have to look to know that a mighty Oak had been savagely uprooted and thrown at the castle.

Confusion momentarily clouded Sam's face. When he slowly looked up, focusing on me for the first time since pulling the scroll from between two concrete blocks, his gaze was one of excitement and awe. "Taka," he whispered reverently, "it's you! You're the key to breaking the spell!"